Mario Kart World Review

Mario Kart World is the game Nintendo built the Switch 2 around, and it earns the spot. The tracks are no longer islands on a menu but points on one continuous map you can drive between freely, and the field swells to twenty four racers, which turns the back half of any race into glorious chaos. The new Knockout Tour, a long point to point elimination gauntlet across the whole world, is the best new mode the series has produced in a decade and the reason to keep coming back.

Not everything the size buys pays off. The free roam that connects the map is pleasant but thin, more a place to hunt collectibles than a destination, and some of the between track driving can feel like filler next to the density of a proper circuit. At eighty dollars it is also the most expensive Mario Kart ever, which sharpens every complaint.

None of that dents the core, which is Nintendo at the height of its craft: bright, fast, readable at speed and endlessly replayable with friends. As a first purchase for a new console it does exactly what a flagship should, showing what the hardware is for while giving a full room of players something to shout about.